John Discalceatus, Bl.
JOHN DISCALCEATUS, BL.
Franciscan friar; b. Saint-Vougay, Brittany, France, c. 1280; d. Quimper, France, Dec. 15, 1349. From his youth he devoted himself to works of charity; and after he was ordained (c. 1303) in the Diocese of rennes, he led a life of poverty and austerity, devoted to the cure of souls. He was so attracted by franciscan spirituality that in 1316 he joined that order. He is said to have gone barefoot for more than 13 years—hence the name Discalceatus —and led an exemplary life of charity and self-denial, giving to the poor the very clothes he wore. He died of the plague. For the many miracles attributed to him, he was popularly proclaimed a saint, but his cult has never been approved by the Church, although he is commemorated in the Franciscan order.
Feast: Dec. 15.
Bibliography: f. m. paolini, Un Document inédit du XIV esiècle sur la vie de St. Jean Discalcéat (Rome 1910). Acta Ordinis Fratrum Minorum 29 (1910) 12–28; 33 (1914) 161–163. w. lampen, Collectanea Franciscana 26 (1956) 421–424. w. forster, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:1028.
[s. olivieri]